Take Home Message: Video
feedback was a more effective tool to correct landing patterns in males to
compared to females, which may be helpful in reducing anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL) injury risk.

Anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rates are high for both males and females; however,
prevention programs are primarily focused on correcting risk factors for
females. As a result, there is little research on which movement pattern
correction programs may be useful for male athletes to decrease risk of ACL
injuries. Therefore, Dallinga et al. performed a randomized controlled trial to
evaluate the effectiveness of providing video feedback following a vertical drop
jump. The authors randomized 80 participants, who were healthy, active, and
reported no history of ACL injury, into 2 groups (video feedback or control).
The participants in the video feedback group were recorded and were able to
review a video of their jump superimposed onto an expert’s jump on a television
screen, whereas the control group performed the same tasks but did not receive
the feedback. All participants completed a pretest session (5 jumps), two
training sessions (15 jumps each), and a posttest session (5 jumps). Each
session was 1 week apart. Fifty-nine participants (29 male, 30 female)
completed the entire study. The males in the video feedback group landed in a
“softer” position compared to the controls: at peak knee valgus/varus they
exhibited increased hip flexion, decreased dorsiflexion moment, and decreased vertical
ground reaction force. The researchers did not find any differences between
female athlete changes over time or between groups.

This
is a unique study as it is one of the first studies to provide insight on an
effective technique to correct movement patterns during a drop vertical jump in
males. It is likely that the athletes in the video group focused on modifying
the joints that displayed the greatest differences between his/her and the
expert body’s contours. The males seemed to have matched the expert’s knee
joint motion early in their exposure to the feedback, allowing the participants
to explore their hip and ankle joints in an attempt to match all of the
individual components of the movement. Females in the visual feedback group
were able to imitate the expert, but the changes to their movement strategy did
not alter their landing technique. Female athletes have been shown to respond
to multifactorial feedback (i.e. visual and verbal) when being instructed on
correct landing technique. These female participants may benefit from
additional explanation of the task, viewing a 3D video, and/or viewing the
video from multiple angles. Positive changes in knee position could be seen
using a combination of feedback methods. Based on these results, medical
professionals could consider appropriate use of video feedback to correct
landing technique in males, as a “softer” landing technique may indicate a
reduction in ACL injury risk. However, prior to implementing a specific tool or
program, clinicians should utilize caution until appropriate validity and
reliability has been achieved.

Question for
Discussion: What type of instructions would you combine with visual feedback to
correct a lower extremity faulty movement during a rehabilitation exercise?
Should the rehabilitation exercises mimic exactly what you are testing
(pre-test/post-test), or do you think you might get a different result using
another exercise (high velocity vs. slow velocity)?

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